Reward offered for details in shooting death of Aaren O'Connor

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CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -- It's been more than a week and still no answers in the death of a 25-year-old woman killed outside her apartment. Police are working around the clock on the case that left Aaren O'Connor dead in her car earlier this month, but they are asking for the public’s help in finding the murderer.

Chicago police said she was sitting in her car in front of her apartment near 21st and Damen talking to her family on the phone.  She told them her head was starting to hurt, then became unresponsive.

She had been struck in the head with a stray bullet and died two days later. 

Police said O’Connor was not the intended target of the shooting, which started with a fight on the block where she was killed.  Area Central detectives are looking for available video footage or information to identify a suspect.

She worked as a brand manager for the Tomy toy company based in Oak Brook, and co-workers helped set up a GoFundMe page. The “Aaren O’Connor Memorial Fund” account on the GoFundMe website has raised more than $35,000 in a week for the San Diego native who moved to Chicago about a year ago.

Donations will initially be used to help her family with funeral and memorial service expenses, but the rest of the money will be used to fund a scholarship in O’Connor’s memory, according to the website.

On Saturday, O’Connor’s friends, co-workers, police and Cook County Crime Stoppers met in the Pilsen neighborhood to pass out 2,000 flyers.

“This neighborhood doesn't deserve that and we have to start now and today is the day,” said Cook County Crime Stoppers Chairman George McDade.

O’Connor moved to Chicago a little over a year ago from California to start a new job and be closer to her boyfriend, Carlos Sorto.                

“Aaren meant the world to me she was, she is the love of my life and will continue to be forever in my heart,” said Sorto Saturday. “I watched her die.  I held her hand the entire time.  This is not a feeling that I want for anyone.”

Chicago Police Chief of Detectives said they have leads in the case, but still need the public’s help.

“The answer to this case is relatively simple. There’s someone who is within two or three blocks of this incident who’s watching this right now and knows who did it, saw something, heard something or knows something,” said Chief of Detectives Gene Roy.

There is a currently a $1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in this case.

If you know anything you can anonymously call Cook County Crime Stoppers 1-800-535-STOP